This month's newsletter contains: * Bet you don't hear this enough * Getting to know us * Correction * Tip & Tricks * What do you do When * In all Honesty * Current Stats BET YOU DON'T HEAR THIS ENOUGH Thank you, thank you, thank you. You folks are *the* best on the internet. I can't say thank you enough and the staff is right behind me with those sentiments. There are around 4600 volunteers with this project, and the 'noise' (complaints) ratio to the number of volunteers is so minuscule that we are amazed. This solidifies the opinion I formed in 1995 (when I got bitten by the bug) regarding people searching their roots are the best group of people around. GETTING TO KNOW US Have you ever wondered who the people behind the scenes are besides names at the bottom of each newsletter? All of us, except one, are just like you -- bitten by the genealogy bug and by becoming a volunteer and subsequently a staff member trying to "pass on" the kindness shown to us by others. So I thought I would highlight a member or two of the staff in this and future issues of the newsletter. Madlyn Dill Simkulet Handles: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA SD, TN, TX, UT, VT Madlyn came to RAOGK staff about two years ago, and was thrown head- long into the fray with handling two states with the largest number of volunteers, California and Texas. She is kept quite busy. A retired librarian with a Masters of Library Science Degree, she now volunteers as the head librarian for the Baytown Genealogy Research Library. Another one of her projects is to photograph cemeteries in Harris County, Texas (or any other cemetery she happens to be driving by). Harris County is a large county and has a lot of old cemeteries. To quote Madlyn: "My family and friends out at the library say, 'If you can't find Madlyn, start looking in the cemeteries.'" Madlyn was born, raised and has lived all her life in Texas. She says she does enjoy traveling but is always glad to get back home to her grown daughter and two grown grandchildren. CORRECTION You know from time to time I wonder if very many folks read this newsletter, well after last month I found out quite a few folks really do read this newsletter. In last months message, I had thanked all who had bought from our online store the first month it was online. It was a huge success. I guess I was really excited about it and when typing the link into the newsletter I made a typo. I received quite a few e- mails letting me know the link didn't work. So here's the corrected link: http://www.raogk.org/store Because our store's items are branded with the logo of RAOGK, a decision was made to open another shop. This shop is still connected with RAOGK, and has the same products on it, but the imprints on them have nothing to do with RAOGK, but are genealogy related. The new shop is called "Genealogy for You . . .the lighter side". To get to that shop you can go to: http://www.genealogyforyou/shop (corrected URL: http://www.genealogyforyou.com/shop) I also created some designs for Father's Day: http://www.genealogyforyou/shop/629110 (corrected URL: http://www.genealogyforyou.com/shop/629110) From now until June 14th, if you spend $30 you get $10 off your order. You will need to use the coupon code GRDAD05 (that is a zero5). Special orders are welcome at no extra cost. TIP & TRICKS I am going to try to include a volunteer submitted tip and trick in all newsletters from now on. We all can learn something from others. This month it comes from Ceal Wutkag in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the years I worked out a system that makes doing the lookups as easy as possible. Others might be interested in ways to simplify the process. (Well I get a lot of requests here in Atlanta.) I have a problem with people sending requests and only rarely including an address. So I usually have to email them with a request for their address. Then I get an email from someone saying "here is my address" and no other information. So, first thing to do is ask for their address and remind them to include their previous email in their response. Folks should already know to do this but they do not. I print off these requests and keep them in a special folder along with envelopes and stamps. This way I don't have the extra paperwork in the midst of the piles of paperwork already on my desk. I go to the library, and if I find an obit I put it into the envelope and stamp it. On my way home from the library I drop them at the Post Office. (In the beginning I used to bring the copies home, then email folks that I found an obit and need their address, then wait for people to respond, match them up with the right previous email and obit, etc. Once I waited a couple of months for some people to respond and then took 2 hours to find the obit somewhere on my desk!) I tried doing the look up and then typing it in to send but this took so much extra time. This would be ok for only one lookup a month but I get many more. Also, scanning is a possibility but again this takes a lot of extra time. It would help if the folks are requested to include their address in their request. This also lets the volunteer know when they are getting a request from someone who is just as close or closer to the library then the volunteer! I don't mind if the person is handicapped and needs the help. If you have a tip or trick you'd like to share, please send them to polls@raogk.org, otherwise they will be ignored. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN We've been asked this question several times, what do you do when...you reply to a requester and their email address blocks your answer? The answer is really up to the volunteer. If you receive a message back for you to click on a link to verify that you are a human being, you can do so if you wish. However, whatever you decide to do, keep the original request and a copy of the message you sent back to the requester, along with any messages letting you know your e-mail has been blocked. As genealogists, we all know how to document our findings. In this instance you need to document your actions in case we receive a complaint that the requester received no response from you, the volunteer. IN ALL HONESTY Besides living by the creed of "Doing Unto Others. . . .," I have always tried to be totally honest in all my endeavors. This honesty sometimes causes hard feelings with others and caused some embarrassing moments for myself. This is one of those embarrassing moments for me. Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is a mom and pop operation. The only income RAOGK has comes from the donations made through the support page, the Google ads placed on the pages and our own wallet. The stores will bring in extra money in time, however commission from sales which are accumulated monthly are delayed at least 6 weeks. Under normal circumstances, all the areas that generate 'income' for the site would be sufficient. However, we are not under normal circumstances at this time. Due to Doc's (our tech guru) illness, which started the end of January, he has not worked at his "9 to 5" job since the last part of January. The disability program his company provides that is supposed to pick up and pay you through such crises' has been denied twice giving no specific reason except that "the nature of his absence does not qualify for disability payments." The third attempt, due to his back surgery, may or may not be paid, they are dragging their feet. After 5 months, we have now exhausted all our avenues for financial help. I am hoping that you folks could help us out a bit. A contribution of any amount would be truly appreciated and humbly accepted. You can see the methods that we accept support contributions by going to http://www.raogk.org/support.html. CURRENT STATS Last month: 4597 This month: 4604 New: 125 Left: 57 Staff removals: 31 April requests stats were omitted in last newsletter April Requests : 8,361 USA volunteers received: 7,522 NON-USA volunteers received: 835 May Requsts (through May 29, 2005, midnight CST): 6,921 USA volunteers received: 6,157 NON-USA volunteers received: 764 *Staff removals are those folks whose e-mail address has been reported bouncing and confirmed or volunteers who, over the course of trying many times, did not respond back to requesters or staff. Kudos for May: 88 (http://www.raogk.org/thanks/) Until next month. . . . . . . THE STAFF Bridgett, Michele, Bill, Madlyn, Anja, Terri, Nancy, Bobbi and Doc, the Tech Guru